John Kasich vs. pop culture

Ohio Gov. John Kasich launched his campaign for president last week, then held five town hall meetings in New Hampshire, with “I don’t know” at the ready. Here, speaks at a town hall meeting at the Portsmouth Country Club on Wednesday, July 22.(Photo: The Enquirer/Amanda Rossmann)

Ohio Gov. John Kasich's past scrapes with pop culture are starting to resurface now that he's announced for president.

Among his targets: The 1996 Coen brothers movie "Fargo," and hip-hop band "The Roots." In both cases, the stories were told by Kasich himself in a 2006 book, 'Stand for something.'

Kasich vs. Fargo

Kasich rented the movie and was so horrified by the wood-chipper scene at the end - in which Steve Buscemi's character is, yes, fed into a wood-chipper. At first he was so appalled he demanded Blockbuster remove the movie from its shelf; later he asked for it to be labeled but it sounds like no one listened to him.

While working at Lehman Brothers, Kasich took a risk and bought a hip-hop CD, in this case by The Roots. He found the lyrics so vulgar he said he pulled over to the side of the road and tossed the CD out of the car. No need for what he considered "offensive drivel," he wrote.